Surpassing the Limits
by ChronicWaste
Summary: After being grievously wounded on his first ever mission, can a young Naruto overcome his new handicap and achieve his dreams? Eventual NaruHina Rated M


AN: Enjoy the story! And please review.

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

* * *

The morning sun shined brightly over Hi no Kuni. It was a pcture perfect day, not a single cloud in the sky, and a pleasant breeze made the branches sway and brush against each other. A boy, wearing a brown shirt and cargo shorts, emerged from the underbrush, holding a rabbit by it's ears. The boy was agile and fairly tall, and looked to be ten years old. His feet were bare. He bore the knicks and scrapes of childhood, and wore a vulpine grin across his face. The rabbit twitched and tried to break free of his grip, but the boy sighed and broke the animals neck in a single well practiced motion.

"Time to skin this bunny!" The boy announced to the world and walked over to a small fire pit, lined with rocks and the ash of previous fires. He settled himself on a nearby stump and pulled a well worn and slightly rusted kunai from his pocket. He had found it outside a shinobi equipment store a little over 3 years or so ago. It had since been used by the child often. The rabbit was skinned and he performed the E-ranked fire starting jutsu. A small ember of flame erupted from his mouth and the fire began. He impaled the rabbit on a stick and roasted it over the now roaring fire. A man came out of the forest as well and approached the boy.

"Naruto! Shouldn't you be working on your taijutsu?"

"I have to eat don't I?" Naruto said and gestured to the cooking meat. "You want some, Sensei?"

The man contemplated the meat. Rabbit meat was somewhat tough and always tended to get stuck in his teeth. "No, I'm good for now. I'll catch a fish for myself later." He pulled the boy off the stump and said, "Now go work on your taijutsu!" The boy opened his mouth to protest but was silenced by a single finger held to the man's mouth. "I'll watch your meat and make sure it doesn't burn. GO!"

"Fine..." Naruto stood and trampled over to a upright log, wrapped with coarse rope. He punched the log once, twice, but then the aroma of roasting rabbit wafted into his sensitive nose. "Aw, come on sensei!! I need to eat! I'm starving!" He whined with great efficiency.

"You ate thirty minutes ago!!"

"Yeah, that's HALF an hour. I've never gone so long without food!"

"Bull."

Naruto ignored the man's protests and pulled the stake out of the ground. "Fine, I'll just eat as I train!" He broke the stick over his knee, and held the shortened stake with his left hand and punched the training post with his right. He ate bits of the rabbit in between strikes.

"This kid..." The man sighed in exasperation. At first the child was easy to deal with, he listened without a moment of hesitation and performed excellently. The boy was a veritable sponge for all forms of instruction, but he was now so undisciplined. And his stomach always came first. The rabbit was ingested quickly and Naruto's focus turned entirely to his training. Finally.

After performing the required number of strikes, with both arms and legs, he sat across from his sensei and smirked.

"So, what are we doing today sensei?"

"Did you finish completely?"

"Yeah, 200 punches and kicks." He rubbed his sore knuckles absentmindedly. This training was torture as far as he was concerned.

The man nodded, "So, after you do your exercises, (The boy groaned in protest.) we're going to Konoha."

"Really? So soon? I thought we were staying out here for much longer!"

"We would, but we were called back for an urgent mission."

"A MISSION?!" The volume he achieved split his sensei's ears. "WHAT IS IT, WHAT IS IT?"

"I don't know. We'll find out when we get there." Fortunately for Naruto, the gods blessed him with patience. A lesser man would have left the annoying child in the woods some where, but Kakashi was a man of patience. "Now do your exercises." The boy required constant prodding and motivation.

"Are we going to do an ANBU mission, like you always used to do?"

"I highly doubt that. **You're** coming with me after all."

"Oh... Whatever!!" The boy burst up from his sitting position and grabbed a pair of dirty gloves. Putting them on, he chanted, "Going on a mission! Going on a mission! Going on a mission!" He dropped to his fists and began performing pushups, letting out a repetition of, "Going on a mission!" in between each. He pushed himself up and landed on a single fist, "Hey sensei, guess what?"

"What, Naruto?" He responded listlessly.

"WE'RE GOING ON A MISSION!!"

Kakashi groaned long and hard.

----------------

By the time they arrived in Konoha, night was falling. Naruto, who had been out of the village for nearly three years now demanded that they visit Ichiraku ramen. Kakashi sighed and responded with a monotone, "Later." He wanted to avoid the ramen stand for as long as possible. The more Naruto ate, the hungrier he became it seemed. His metabolism was frankly inhuman, and Naruto wondered if his true father was an Akimichi, instead of the Yondaime. He knew that more than likely it was a result of the Kyuubi, but it never ceased to amaze him. And he wondered why Naruto didn't become a blob of flesh with eyes sockets.

If questioned officially on Naruto's insatiable appetite, he would say that it was the Kyuubi's influence trying to create a strong host. The boy had barely an ounce of body fat and his muscles were wiry and well developed. More than likely the Kyuubi was diverting all the protein to Naruto's musculature and bone structure. His bones were as hard as steel, and he seemed to be built for speed. He was like a super dense pinball that bounced all around, annoying everyone. And the growth spurt Naruto had after he stopped eating only Ichiraku ramen was surprising.

After many diversions into weapon shops and equipment stores because Naruto saw something he deemed 'cool' (everything) they arrived at the Hokage tower.

"Come in, Kakashi." The Hokage pronounced from behind the closed doors of his office, after his secretary tipped him off over the intercom. He mentally counted down, 'One... Two... Thr-"

"OJISAAAAAAN!!!!" A blur of black and yellow rocketed into his waiting arms. 'Naruto's gotten faster!'

The Hokage couldn't keep a small "Oof." from escaping his lips as the blond impacted his ribcage, but he hugged the boy nonetheless. Kakashi entered the room much more calmly than his student. "Hello, Kakashi. I see Naruto is as rambunctious as ever."

"More so, I think." Kakashi smiled lightly at the scene before him. Naruto was an annoying brat, but he grew on him, and it was good to see that the boy was loved.

"So, Ojisan, do you have a present for me?" Naruto asked expectantly as he hopped down from the old man's lap.

"Well, Kakashi informed me that you were in need of shinobi equipment, so I purchased you a set. For the mission." That was the official reason anyway, it was partly to see the childish pleasure that Naruto would no doubt exhibit after receiving such a gift. He pulled a small bundle wrapped in cloth out of one of his desk's drawers and handed it to the child.

"AWESOME!" He ripped the cloth apart and shoved the various kunai and shuriken into his pockets after admiring each one. "What are these?" He pulled a pair of black metal arm bracers out of the cloth.

Kakashi interjected by saying, "Those are arm bracers. I believe that model has a hidden blade on the right one."

Naruto triggered said hidden blade and his eyes lit up. "COOOOL!" He toyed with the mechanism and smirked. After fastening them to his forearms, he turned to the Hokage. "Hey look Ojisan!" He watched the bracer earnestly, and smiled up at Sarutobi when the blade slid out.

"Very nice, Naruto." Then his tone turned official. "So, Kakashi, how was your progress in training Naruto?"

"The training went very well." The Jounin said happily. "Even though the brat didn't make it easy for me."

"HEY!!"

"That's good to hear. What would you make of his abilities?"

"Easily Mid-Chuunin, when he's in the right state of mind. But that's mostly because his physical abilities are so high."

"I noticed that he was very fast indeed." The Hokage affirmed. Naruto, who was still toying with his new equipment flushed slightly at the praise.

"Yes, it seems as though his tenant has accelerated the growth of his musculature as well as his reaction times and mental capabilities. If he weren't so immature, he would be a force to be reckoned with. I believe that even the slightest ounce of maturity, he could become great."

"Good. I fear you may need to make use of those abilities on your mission."

Naruto's ears perked at the mention of the word "mission." He stood beside his sensei and asked, "So, what is our mission Ojisan?"

"You two will be undercover and guarding a group of VIPs. You will be posing as a father and son during the Raikage's banquet. We were allowed 4 shinobi guards, but I fear that will not be enough."

"Who are the VIPs?" Kakashi asked, wondering who would require such a guard.

"Hiashi Hyuuga, two branch members, and his two daughters."

"Why would we even risk such a mission? After the incident a few years ago, I thought we were on bad terms with Kumo!" This didn't add up to the Copycat-nin. What exactly was the point of this mission?

"Which is precisely why we are risking it. Kaminari no Kuni would be a powerful ally, both economically and militarily. Although I don't like it, they invited the Hyuuga in order to formally apologize for their actions and to foster friendship between the nations."

Kakashi seemed to be satisfied by this, and nodded. Hopefully for Naruto's sake, they wouldn't run into any trouble.

The boy, though, seemed thrilled at the prospect of action. "Don't worry Ojisan!! I'll defeat all of Kumo if I need to!" The old man chuckled, and patted him on the head.

"I'm sure you will make quite a splash, Naruto."

'Oh god, I hope not...' Kakashi thought as he watched the blond's interactions with the Hokage.

"Before you two leave, I have one more thing to give to you." Sarutobi said wearily. Naruto picked up on the gravity of the situation and for once stopped bouncing around. He didn't say a word as Sarutobi reached back into his desk. The old man placed a rectangular box made of oak on top of his desk. It was trimmed in gold and had a gold clasp. He reverently opened the box and revealed it's contents. There were two letters, two scrolls, a very familiar kunai, and a tanto. The tanto's sheath was black, and it had a brown string. He lifted the tanto tenderly and offered it to Naruto. "It belonged to your mother. Given to her by your father as a gift." He pulled the sheath from the blade a few inches, revealing gleaming silver, and a very simple inscription. "_To my love._"

A small tear fell from Naruto's eye and landed on the blade. He remained wordless. Kakashi placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "The rest of the trunk's contents will be given to you upon your promotion to Jounin. At your parents request."

"Ojisan... I know you can't tell me who my parents were... But, did they-"

"They loved you very, very much Naruto..."

Naruto nodded and wiped the small tears from his eyes. As they turned to leave, Naruto turned to Kakashi and said, "Please, help me become a jounin."

----------------

As soon as the meeting with Sarutobi ended Naruto demanded, once again, to be taken to Ichiraku ramen. Kakashi sighed and accepted his wallet's fate to be empty. Naruto was eating at the moment. Vigorously. He had a pair of chopsticks in each hand, and was bringing ungodly amounts of the savory noodles into his system at an astonishing rate. Kakashi watched, mouth agape, as his student continued to eat his weight in noodles. Teuchi was having the time of his life and served more of the soup as soon as Naruto could scarf them down. "Naruto...." Kakashi said, remotely. His soul had actually lifted from his body in shock. It was Kakashi's first out of body experience, and it made the whole ordeal slightly more bearable. He wasn't crying rivers of tears for his bank account after all. But, even in his detached state, he found himself worrying over his student's well being. So much of anything could not be healthy. Even if he was just eating salad, Kakashi would be thoroughly distressed for his student.

"Hmm?" Naruto managed to hum out around a mouth clogged and congested with noodles and broth. His stomach by this point was grossly distended and if poked, one might just lose their digits to the mass of flesh.

"Please. For my sake and yours. Stop eating." Teuchi looked rather put off, but he regarded the pupil and student intently.

"Maybe he's right Naruto. You've eaten... A lot."

"But, I don't want to stop." Naruto said, and unfortunately the chins that had developed under his own, shook and wobbled in agreement. "I'll stop when I'm finished!" And he went back to slurping. Teuchi looked at Kakashi, concerned. Kakashi looked back, frightened for his student.

Kakashi lay a gloved hand over his student's rapidly working one. "It's time to stop eating, Naruto."

"Who are you to say?"

"I'm your friend, Naruto. We're all here for you." Teuchi nodded solemnly and put his hand on top of Naruto's other one.

"What is this, an intervention?"

Ayame burst out of the kitchen, she was near tears. "Naruto, please, stop!! I can't see you do this to yourself!" She picked up a bowl from the mountain that had accumulated. The pile was roughly 8 feet in height and 3 feet in diameter. "Look at all these bowls! We're almost out of stock!!"

"Lay off me, I'm starving!!" The drama unfolding at the ramen stand had attracted quite a crowd. Many nodded along with Naruto's concerned friends. A few cries of desperation rang out through the mass of people.

"Come on, kid! That ain't healthy!" "Look at yourself!" "You're hurting those people who care for you!" General cries of agreement followed. A group of worried citizens were ready to interfere if this continued much longer. It may be the Kyuubi brat, but he was a citizen of Konoha, dammit! And they would rather be struck dead than allow a fellow Leaf on the great tree of Konoha to explode into a mass of noodles and broth on their street!!

Naruto turned to the crowd and said, "What do you know?!" He broke his hands out of the older men's grips and continued.

"NARUTOOO!!" Ayame screamed in horror. "You're going to burst at this rate!"

"MOOOORREEE!!"

Kakashi shuddered and placed his head in his hands. He muttered to himself, "Another teammate I couldn't save..."

----------------

Late that night, Kakashi was awoken by a rather disturbing sound. The sound of Naruto peeing. It was like a great waterfall in his bathroom, it was enough noise to wake him up. After a few long minutes of the masked nin, pulling a horrified face at the sheer volume of it all, it stopped. Kakashi had been on his way to go and help his poor student (squeeze him around the waist to facilitate the process or something), who must have been in pain, when the stream finally halted. The toilet flushed and Kakashi let out a sigh of relief. He was on his way back to his bed when the stream resumed, in greater volume than before. It was a din that could wake the dead, and would make a race horse feel inadequate in terms of flow. In the horror of it all, he slipped on a throw rug and landed face first. "What the fuck..." He murmured in awe and terror. Again the toilet flushed.

Kakashi waited a moment, and began to sigh in relief, when it resumed.

After many rounds of piss, Kakashi was shocked. It had to end!! He was so sure that each had to be the last, but IT DIDN'T STOP. He tried to sleep, but he couldn't, knowing that such an unbelievable act was being performed in his home.

When Naruto finally exited the bathroom he was met with quite the sight. Kakashi stood, clad only in his boxers, outside the bathroom door. Now that wasn't odd in itself, he might have been waiting to go, he was in there for a while after all. What was odd though was the sheer look of aversion and shock on his teacher's face. His jaw had slackened almost to the ground, and his eye was wide in abhorrence. He looked genuinely scared.

"N-naruto... A-are... Are you..." He struggled for words. "Okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, Kakashi. What's wrong? Did you pee yourself or something?"

"Why... Why are you... Not fat?"

"What do you mean?"

Kakashi's slackened jaw slammed shut and he closed his eye and plugged up his ears. "LALALALALALALA!!" He ran back to his bed, and dive bombed into the covers, immediately he hid his head under a pillow. Unfortunately, the image of Naruto pissing out entire noodles had entered his mind, and it was just too much for him to bear. His brain shut down.

Naruto sighed and then shrugged. "Sensei's so weird."

----------------

They waited at the gates for the rest of their convoy. Many in Konoha looked at Kakashi and Naruto in amazement. The infamous, perpetually late, Copycat-nin waiting for someone? This attracted many a strange look. Kakashi was just as shocked. "We were supposed to leave at 4 in the morning! Where is everyone?"

Kakashi, not wanting to be too late, had woken up after a night of fitful sleep at 5. They were waiting by the gates by 5:30 and no one was there! Kakashi feared that they had left without them until he asked the chuunin on guard whether a bunch of Hyuuga and 4 ninjas went by. He had seen no such thing, and so they waited. It was now 8 o'clock and still no sign of their comrades. Naruto had ran off to eat something, but Kakashi hadn't regained his appetite, and stayed at the gates. Still no sign. Naruto came back and approached his sensei. "Where are these people?" The blond asked him impatiently.

"I don't kno.... There they are!" The entire convoy appeared along with the 5 Hyuuga. There were two Jounin and two Chuunin along with the branch member guards. "Aren't you guys kind of late?" Kakashi asked them, his hands crossed over his chest and an unpleasant look on his face.

"Hokage-Sama told us to be ready to leave at the gates by 8:30. It is currently 8:29." The stoic Hyuuga patriarch told him in a tone that allowed no argument.

"He told us to be here at 4." Naruto said, his confusion was clearly evident. Kakashi frowned as he began to connect the dots.

"That wily old geezer..." He mumbled under his breath.

"What was that Kakashi?" One of the chuunin accompanying them asked.

"Oh, nothing..." The one eyed man frowned and turned to the road, "Shall we depart?"

A few hours later and the convoy was moving at a slow steady pace up one of the great roads of Hi no Kuni. They great roads converged at the Fire Country capital, which was positioned 20 miles south of Konoha's dense forests. This road ran through Konoha and if followed south would lead to the Main Gate of Fire Country's Imperial City. There was little conversation, except between the three youngest members of the group. They were hitting it off rather well.

"Don't worry, Hinata-sama! If anything happens, I got your back! Just say the word and I'll take care of anyone who messes with you!" Naruto flexed his bicep spiritedly, Hinata blushed slightly and nodded. Hanabi, though, was skeptical.

"Aren't you a little young to be a shinobi? What makes you think you can protect my sister?"

"Hanabi, don't be rude." Hinata interjected weakly. Her utterance was drowned out though by a loud protest from the rambunctious blond.

"Whaddya mean by that? I'm older than you!"

"But, I'm hardly a ninja and I can barely be expected to defend anything." Even at 5 years old, the girl was cool and analytical. "Why should I believe that you, someone hardly older than me, can defeat an enemy?"

Naruto was stumped. His shoulders sagged and his step lost it's spring. "Well... My sensei says I'm strong."

Hinata timidly touched his shoulder. "I-I'm sure that you're strong enough to defend me Naruto. I have faith in you."

Hanabi snorted and kicked up dirt. She threw her nose into the air and sidled up to her father who was walking a few paces ahead. Naruto watched in sadness and turned to confide in his new friend. "I don't think your sister likes me very much..."

"N-no, I-I don't think so." She shook her head sadly. "

"Oh, well, ok..." Naruto seemed bolstered by that fact and grinned. Hanabi was a little brat, but he might just protect her too...

----------------

'Oh god. How did this happen?' Kakashi cursed lightly as he held his bleeding chest. They arrived in Kumo after a few days of travel. The children bonded on the way and were now inseperable. Even Hanabi could not hide her affection for the blond. Once or twice he caught Hiashi himself grinning at the blond's antics. It seemed the boy had a knack for worming his way into people's hearts. The chuunin guards they had with them both started the trip hating Naruto, but now regarded him with affection. Well, they would, if they were still alive. They went to their respective hotels and after a night of rest, attended the Banquet.

It started off well, Naruto and Kakashi blended easily into the crowd and kept a careful watch on the proceedings. Naruto, who had been forced into a suit, kept complaining about how he was suffocating in his clothes. Kakashi was not surprised. Naruto spent most of his time barefoot, so wearing formal dress shoes really ticked him off. Kakashi had to admit that he disliked dressing up as well, but such things were sometimes required. After seeing Hinata make an entrance wearing a pretty lavender dress with her hair in a bun, Naruto flushed slightly and remarked on how 'pretty' she looked. The furtive glances he threw her way were not mentioned by Kakashi.

The party was nice, and the food was good. Naruto stuffed himself like a pig as always, but he knew he couldn't go on a feeding frenzy and so he limited himself to 4 servings. But then, the lights went out. There were screams, mostly from the Konoha Nins. They had created an escape plan beforehand and unfortunately, the path was blocked. Kakashi managed to defeat the men blocking the way, but because of the delay, more men arrived. He shouted to Naruto, "TAKE THE GIRLS AND GET OUT OF HERE!" Naruto nodded and grabbed each girl and ran with all his might. The Konoha ninja still in the building fought off round after round combatants. Finally, there was a lull in the combat. Kakashi was worried.

He turned to his remaining comrades. Hiashi, a branch family member, and one of the jounin were still alive. "We need to find Naruto, now!!"

Hiashi, who's daughters could be dead by now, had already disappeared in a burst of speed. The rest of the ninja followed. One thought crossed Kakashi's mind, 'Please, Naruto. Be okay.'

In one of Kumo's many valleys, Naruto had a Hyuuga heir under each arm. He had ran as fast as he could to evacuate the girls, but he feared it would not be enough. He heard a twig snap behind him. He dropped Hinata unceremoniously, she managed to land on her feet, and he let a burst of shuriken loose. A female genin blocked the projectiles with little trouble. Naruto sighed in relief, it was just a genin. He was fairly certain he could dispatch a genin. He set Hanabi on her feet and gave her the order to take her sister and hide. She nodded up at him tearfully. She ran over to her older sister and grabbed her arm and started running. Hinata looked after him sadly, he smiled reasurringly.

The genin chose that moment to make her assault, and Naruto fended off the kunai strike easily. "I don't have time to deal with you. I need to get those girls out of here, so if you'll excuse me..." He grabbed his mother's tanto off of his back and burst forward with the knife in hand. The girl dodged wildly but couldn't stop from receiving a small cut on her neck. He sighed and said, "An inch more and you'd be dead. Give up, you can't win and I don't want to kill you."

"Who says I'm trying to win?" The girl flashed through some handsigns and performed a Raiton jutsu. It was rather weak, and Naruto dodged it easily. He delivered a kick to her temple, which she managed to subvert just enough to not be knocked unconscious. She grabbed a kunai and thrust desperately into his chest. He leaned easily to the left and pushed her forward, she stumbled and landed on her own kunai. It penetrated deep into her stomach. She gasped and blood fell from her mouth. Naruto stood over the girl that he most likely killed, and shook his head sadly. "Haha... You, are such... A fool." The girl managed to say, between hacks of blood and short breaths.

"Says the girl lying on the floor in a pool of her own blood." Naruto snorted at the fallen kunoichi.

"I never said I was trying... To win."

Naruto was confused by that. She had said it before and it didn't make any sense then. For what reason would she fight if she knew she couldn't win? What was her objective, to capture the Hyu.... OF COURSE!! Naruto barreled in the same direction that Hinata and Hanabi had ran away in, cursing his stupidity. The only reason for her to fight, would be to buy someone else time to catch up to the girls. Naruto redoubled his speed. They were the only friends he had that weren't way older than him, ad he would be damned if he let ANYTHING happen to them.

He felt terror grip his heart.

Would he make it in time?

----------------

The man had a deep tan, and his hair was red like blood. He was lined with rippling muscles and he wore a kumo headband proudly on his right bicep, he strutted and pruned himself as he walked. Even in mid search, he smoothed his hair and he even stopped to apply chapstick once or twice. On his back he wore a katana, but his muscles would suggest that he preferred to use his body as his weapon. "Where are you, my little sugar drops!!" He caught a glimpse of them while they were running and so he knew that they were in the immediate vicinity.

Hinata and Hanabi were lying parallel to each other underneath a thick thorn bush. Hinata tried to ignore the little spikes that pricked her skin, and watched the man fearfully. Unfortunately a big sharp rock was poking into her ribs, causing her great discomfort. She would readjust herself slightly, but, she could not risk movement with an enemy so close. She shut her eyes, desperately wishing that the man would just go away. Hinata caught eyes with her little sister, who's eyes were wide with panic. Hinata knew exactly what she was thinking, because she was thinking the same thing.

'_Are we going to die?_'

"Uncle Gensui just wants to pluck your little eyes out of your heads!!" He licked the kunai he held in his hand, running the blade up and down his tongue. "Don't worry, they taught us how to do it with minimal damage so that you little darlings won't feel a thing. Well, except for the feeling of my kunai breaking open your flesh!!" He laughed long and hard. "Although, I've never been very good at fine movements, so I might mess up. Good thing there are two of you in case I slip my blade in too far!" His tone was perverse and suggestive. Hinata knew exactly what he meant. They were educated on some of the more common methods of torturing enemy kunoichi in the academy. She would not be surprised if this man planned to do just that.

Hanabi shuddered at the man's grotesque display. What was wrong with him?

"Maybe I'll have a little _fun_ with you too! Depending on how ugly you are! But, I'm not picky, so even if you two are on the ugly side, you'll still get a little bit of lovin' from old uncle Gensui!!" Hinata forced a scream down her throat. She had to bite down on her knuckles to keep from letting loose shouts of dread. Looks like she bit a little too hard because she tasted blood.

Gensui stopped where he stood. Not that he wasn't a sadist and a pervert, but the main reason for his taunts were so that these little girls would somehow reveal their presence. The scent of blood was in the air, it wasn't enough to reveal their location, but... "Yes, I smell it. I smell your fear!!" He let loose a great wave of ki (killer intent). And then a more pungent scent filled the air. The smell of urine.

Hanabi was so very ashamed. In her fright, she could not hold her bladder from relieving itself of it's contents. A thin trickle of urine ran down her leg.

"Aww, one of the babies peed themselves." He filled his nose with chakra to better hone in on the scent. "Tricky little rabbits hiding in A BUSH!!" Gensui dashed to the bush and cleaved it clean in half. He could see straight through to the bottom and sure enough, there they were. An abnormal smile fleeted across his face, it did not reach his eyes. His murky brown eyes were filled with a killer's rage. The girls looked up at him fearfully and Hanabi screamed in fright.

Meanwhile, Naruto was zooming towards the strong burst of ki that he felt just a moment ago. His feet impacted the ground hard and fast and he wasted no movement. He heard the distant scream with his sensitive ears and cursed. "GODDAMMIT!!" He wished so very desperately that he could shrink the earth before him and arrive at his destination at this moment, but such an act was impossible. Why was he so STUPID?!

The dangerous man had pulled Hanabi forcefully through the thorns and lifted her to his face. He grip was strong around her throat and his eyes were filled with a freakish, monstrous pleasure. "Aw, come on baby, don't be scared." His tongue followed the track of one of her tears up her cheek and up to her eye. If she hadn't shut it he would have had his tongue directly on her Byakugan. "Now that's the pretty eye that we've been after!"

Hinata rolled out of the thorn bush and stood. "LET HER GO!!" Her hands were clenched down by her sides, and tears were streaming from her closed eyes. "My Byakugan is stronger, don't you want mine first?!"

The man looked at her and licked his lips. "Oooohhhh.... Aren't you a pretty one. Not so flat as this little one here." He tossed the girl aside quite brutally, and it was only by a lucky half an inch that she didn't land on her neck badly and break her spine. "Come'ere!!" He took a wide step forward, and reached out with his hands. She adopted a weak fighting position and struck out with a chakra strike at the man's heart.

She was so very sure that she hit.

She was so very sure, that when the man fell, she didn't bother to look behind her on her way to her crying sister. Hanabi saw her sister's approach. She felt safe with her sister's arms only an inch or so from embracing her. But then, a shadow rose behind her precious Hinata. An arm snaked around the older girl's chest and a kunai drew near her tearful eyes. It moved steadily closer.

It bit cruelly into flesh.

(INTERMISSION TO BUILD TENSION)

HA HA HA HA HA HA! ISN'T THIS FULL OF TENSION?

(END INTERMISSION)

Kakashi had managed to catch up with the enraged father, the whole time they had been running the man was swearing under his breath. Hyuuga Hiashi SWEARING was one of those things that he would have bet every single copy of Icha Icha Paradise he had on that it would never happen. The man was well known for his cool demeanor and ability to keep things in perspective, to the point that he was absolutely unflappable. It was said, that after his wife death, he calmly entered the room and stood there. He didn't make a sound, it seemed to many that he did not breath. He just stood there, Byakugan ruling over the entire hospital. He was there for 2 days.

But, to see this normally self-possessed and composed man, swearing with visible signs of anger and fright on his face was quite the shock. Hiashi's eyes widened visibly, and Kakashi became worried. What did he see? The man became visibly less worried after a moment, and turned to him. "There is a dead girl within 600 feet."

"Kumo?"

"Yes."

The Copycat-nin shook his head sadly. Naruto most likely was forced to make a kill. He sighed and ran just the tiniest bit faster. He could only hope that Naruto was okay.

Gensui's eyes widened dramatically. Where had this brat come from? His kunai was buried to the hilt in a blond kid's shoulder. Naruto used the man's surprise to push Hinata from between them and tried to shove his mother's tanto into Gensui's che-

The jounin was enraged and he backhanded Naruto into the air. Naruto landed heavily on the thorn bush the girl's had used as shelter. His tanto landed a few feet to his left. Gensui asked loudly, "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!"

"Naruto!!" Hinata cried, holding Hanabi in her arms. Naruto lifted his head and offered the girls a pained smile. He was getting up and made a grab for his tanto, when Gensui stomped cruelly into his solar plexus. The wind left Naruto and he was sure instantly that he broke at least one rib. Gensui licked his lips and said, "Well, I do prefer little girls, but little boys suit me just fine!"

Naruto stiffened and his leg shot up into the man's crotch. Gensui caught the kick easily and snapped his shin bone with a single movement of his wrist. "Aw, finally a kid who knows how to play the game!!" He tossed Naruto up fifteen feet into the air and caught him by the throat. "Be careful little one, I might drop you!" He threw him into the air again, but higher, and caught him by his broken leg this time. Naruto couldn't keep the scream from leaving his lips this time.

"Naruto!!" Hinata screamed. "Run! RUN AWAY!!" Both girls were sobbing powerfully and gripping desperately at each other. This was too much, this was too cruel.

Naruto's face cleared of pain, and he turned his eyes to them. Weakly he lifted the arm that wasn't stabbed with a kunai and gave them a thumbs up. Hanabi buried her head into her sister's chest and bawled. Gensui grabbed hold of the kunai in Naruto's arm and twisted it powerfully, the blond took a sharp intake of breath but did not scream. A tear fell from his face. "Aww!! IT'S NOT FUN WHEN YOU DON'T SCREAM!!" He threw Naruto into the air, still holding on to his kunai and the kunai ripped it's way straight down the tendons and muscles in Naruto's arm. His right arm.

The blonde boy howled in unearthly pain and fell, like a ragdoll a few feet in front of Hinata. Hanabi, who could not take it anymore, broke free of her sister's grip and ran to the fallen boy and stood over him protectively. "LEAVE HIM ALONE!!" Hinata followed and tried to drag her sister back.

"HAHAHAHA!!!" Gensui laughed derisively. "ARE YOU HIS LITTLE GIRLFRIENDS?! KID'S GOT GAME!!"

He rushed at the girls with his Katana. The eyes were what they were after, what did it matter if they lost a limb or two? He swung vertically towards the bigger one, and cut clean through an arm. The arm thudded on the ground and seemed to echo loudly. The arm's tan skin was pale from the blood loss. A arc of blood shot out from Naruto's shoulder. He stifled a scream.

His back was to the man, and his face was to the Hyuuga girls. His face was exhausted and both of his arms were useless. His right was cut up to shreds, and his left lay on the ground. Still he managed to smile painfully. "Hahaha... Don't worry about me, girls. I did my job." They looked in wordless horror.

Hinata looked between the blond and his arm. "But... Your arm!"

"Heh heh... I may not be, but you two will be just fine." He put his nose into the air and smelled deeply. "The cavalry is on it's way."

"What nonsense are you spitting kid?!" Gensui, too took a deep breath. He smelt three approaching scents. "YOU LITTLE SHIT!!" He stabbed the blond through his chest and an jet of blood hit Hinata in the face.

Naruto, who stood, impaled by the man's sword, managed some last words said spitefully over his shoulder.

His eyes were victorious and a dangerous smile lit his face, "Who said that I was trying to win?"

He fell off the sword towards the two shocked girls.

He knew no more.

----------------

This was the scene that the three Konoha Jounin's burst into. Naruto lay bleeding on the floor, his left arm severed, the two Hyuuga heiresses looking on in horror. "NARUTO!!" But for a moment, Kakashi's heart ceased it's beating. 'Naruto...'

He had so much potential.

The child that he had spent 2 years with lay on the floor, his blood forming a puddle underneath him. His arm was cut off. On his first mission, that innocent boy lost a limb. In all likelihood, he would no make it home.

He deserved better than THIS!!

Kakashi slammed through the seals for the Raikiri, and let loose a roar of hatred.

Hiashi's Byakugan surveyed the scene. First he examined his daughters. They seemed to be unharmed, except for a small bite mark on Hinata's left knuckle, but that could be dealt with later. His eyes turned next to the seemingly dead boy layed low in front of his daughters. It was apparent from his position that he sacrificed himself for them, and Hiashi's heart softened towards the child. He would be missed. He noticed that the Copy-nin to his right had completely lost his cool and charged the Kumo Jounin with his signature technique raging in his right hand. Hiashi realized that it was probably a bad idea to attack a Kumo nin with a lightning based attack, but he understood the man's pain.

Kakashi treated the boy like family, and to lose family was one of the worst things that could happen. It was precisely why he had been so worried about his daughters. He could not go through that kind of pain. Not again. He had lost his brother, and his beloved wife. If anything happened to either of them, he wouldn't know what he would do. Suicide would more than likely be an option at that point. That was exactly why he was so very grateful to the poor blond boy, bleeding out on the floor. He too charged, but not before barking out a command to the jounin to his left. "Take those children and leave!!"

The man nodded hurriedly and ran towards the children.

Luckily, even in his deranged state, Kakashi had enough sense to keep the mission in mind and led Gensui away from the children. Unfortunately, Gensui used a jutsu to absorb the lightning from his Raikiri before it made impact and so the force was greatly diminished. The battle raged towards the thorn bush and Kakashi noticed the tanto and the floor, he grabbed it and spun to stab it into the man's chest. Gensui barely managed to deflect the knife and was surprised when he still received a cut.

There was a pause in the fighting. "This tanto belonged to that little boy's mother! It was imbued with a seal that would automatically convert chakra into wind chakra, similar to Kumo's lightning blades." Kakashi flourished the blade and uncovered his sharingan eye. He had covered it while running to conserve chakra. "I swear on that boy's death that you will die by this blade!!"

Hiashi entered the fray and took up a stance next to Kakashi. "Do you want the kill or can I get him?"

"Be with your daughters. I can handle this small fry without breaking a sweat." Hiashi nodded gratefully. Right now, he wanted nothing but to hold them in his arms and never let them go.

Before leaving Hiashi put a hand on the man's shoulder, "Do not give up hope, Kakashi. My eyes detected the slightest amount of chakra in the child's coils. It was not much, but there's a good chance that Naruto is alive."

The weight of the world slid off of Kakashi's shoulders and he took a steadying breath. "Good." The Copy-nin, now thinking clearly appraised the man before him. It would be foolish to expect Naruto to inflict damage on a jounin. The battle might be harder than he expected. Kakashi was not hurt, but, he was fatigued from fending off waves of ninja earlier. Ending this quickly would be best.

He dropped down low and ran at Gensui, tanto in hand. Gensui, surprised at the speed, blocked with his katana. Unfortunately for him, the katana could not keep up with the razor sharp wind chakra and snapped in half. The man looked from his blade to Kakashi and back again. "Oh shi-" His head was lobbed off with little effort. Kakashi turned his back on the dead man and went to rejoin his fellow leaf nins.

He had to give Naruto his tanto back.

----------------

A/n: So that's the first chapter. Hope you enjoyed and if you'd like to see an update soon, review.


End file.
